This invention relates to a novel paper sheet dispenser. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a single hand, paper towel or tissue sheet dispenser that does not require a user to hold a roll of segmented, paper sheets with one hand in order to facilely tear off a desired number of the paper sheet segments.
Paper towels are routinely used in kitchens, restaurants and other settings where food is prepared and served. No matter where food is served, paper towel dispensers are often used to dispense paper towel sheets to clean up spills or to clean tables, floors and kitchen appliances. In addition, paper towel dispensers are often used in recreational settings, in addition to garages, auto or wood working shops and in other work or recreational areas where people need to absorb or wipe-up a spill, dry a surface or simply clean and/or dry their hands. Paper towels are usually sold in a roll having a width of approximately eleven inches or so and sheets of approximately six to fifteen inches in length connected end-to-end along serrated tear lines. The paper towel and bath tissue sheets are wound upon a paper core of approximately an inch and a half in diameter and sell with a retail diameter of the roll of about four to five inches in diameter.
Paper towels are often formed from one or two ply sheets of absorbent paper material. One brand of such paper towel product is known as BOUNTY, which is a registered trademark of the Proctor & Gamble Company. This brand comes in sheet lengths of a few inches or so to approximately eleven-by-eleven inches square. Another brand is referred to as BRAWNY which is a registered trademark of the Fort James Corporation and is conventionally sold in a roll of sheets eleven inches wide by thirteen point eight inches in length joined end-to-end along serration tear lines. In certain instances, sheets of paper towels may have other length and width dimensions. However, most disposable paper towel rolls have periodic transverse serrations to facilitate separation of discrete lengths or sheets.
In addition to paper towels, bathroom tissues are dispensed in segmented rolls which are unreeled and torn-off in desired numbers for use.
The above paper sheet products are often dispensed by using a simple U-shaped bracket holder. These holders are usually designed to be mounted upon a vertical wall surface or beneath a horizontal wood cabinet by wood screws. Each end of the U-shaped bracket is designed to hold one end of the paper sheet core or alternatively a rod can be axially extended through the center of the paper core and mounted at its ends between the U-shaped bracket or frame. At least one disadvantage of traditional paper sheet dispensers, including a simple U-shaped bracket holder, is that a person usually needs to use both hands to dispense the paper sheets. This disadvantage represents an inconvenience and difficulty for some people, when one hand is holding a container, object of use, or is otherwise soiled or occupied. In such moments, the only option, in most instances, is for a person to find a place to set the container or other object of use so that both hands are free to tear off one or more sheets of paper product. If a user attempts to use inertia and jerk a few sheets from a roll, the roll often unreels. The user is then left with the task of rewinding unused numbers of paper product segments. In other instances, if a user attempts to use inertia to tear sheets from a roll, the entire roll may be pulled off the holder. The user must then pick up the roll rewind any useful portion and reposition the roll on the holder. Still further, if a roll of paper sheet segments is held with one hand, and a desired number ripped off with the other, the sheets of paper product may not tear at the serrated edges between individual sheets. This leaves uneven or jagged edges or strips of paper sheets hanging from the roll.
It would therefore be highly desirable to provide a means for dispensing different types of segmented paper, sheets that only requires a user to use a single hand to facilely tear off any number of paper sheets desired in a reliable and convenient manner. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a means for dispensing segmented paper sheets wherein a user can use a single hand to tear off segmented, paper sheets without touching or soiling other sheets of the roll of paper product with a user's hand.
Traditional paper sheet dispensers, including dispensers for paper towels, are often poorly designed or cheaply produced which means that a roll of paper sheets often falls off the dispenser when a person attempts to tear off a segment. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a paper sheet dispenser that is rugged and reliable in design and function and will securely retain a roll of paper sheets during a dispensing procedure.
At least one paper sheet dispenser, known in the past, that is designed to operate with one hand, includes a pair of nesting plastic yokes that are pivotally connected to a base plate. In this design, a paper sheet roll is mounted on one of the yokes and trained over a top edge of the other yoke for tearing by a downward movement. In one embodiment this tearing operation is enhanced by use of tooth-shaped projections or a sharp blade fitted at an edge of the second yoke to assist in separating a desired number of sheets from a roll This design, although more convenient than most traditional roll dispensers, is composed of relatively light-weight plastic and a multipart mounting mechanism for the yokes. Accordingly, this design lacks ruggedness and does not take advantage of gravity to assist in a dispensing process. Moreover, the tear mechanism is simply an over a yoke bar design that is lacking user friendliness for a one handed operation.
In at least one further prior design, a roll of paper sheets was operably received within a trough with a slit along one edge of the bottom of the trough. A free end of the roll was trained through the slit and therefore operated as a dispensing unit. In this device there is nothing to brake rotation of the roll, except a user's second hand and therefore while this design will dispense paper sheet segments it exhibits many of the limitations of prior designs.
Traditional paper sheet dispensers do not provide an effective mechanism for limiting the unreeling of a roll of paper sheets except with the use of two hands. It would be desirable to enable a user to dispense one or more paper sheets using a single hand. Moreover, it would be useful to enable a user, relying on just one hand, to be able to reliably and conveniently dispense paper sheets from a dispenser mounted either against a wall or under a cabinet.
In the past paper sheet dispensers also did not have means for mounting the dispenser in different positions in a manner that provides for alternative left or right side loading of a roll of segmented, paper sheets on the dispenser and reliable single hand operation of the dispenser. Loading and operation of a paper sheet dispenser enables a user to use a single hand to tear off a desired number of sheets of paper product from either the left side or right side of the dispenser in a reliable and convenient manner. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a means for dispensing segmented, paper sheets such that the dispensing unit can be mounted in different positions, such as against a generally vertical surface or in a generally horizontal mounting position such as under a cabinet, either in a kitchen or other work or recreational area, wherein the dispensing means is designed for reversible loading and operation. Such dispensing means would enable a user to reliably and conveniently mount a segmented, paper sheet, dispenser on either the right side or left side of a generally planar surface, for convenient dispensing of segmented, paper sheets. It would also be desirable to provide a means for dispensing segmented, paper sheets that can be mounted on a wood or plastic surface with screws or on a metallic surface by utilizing a permanent magnet and optionally wherein the base may be utilize to display personal or decorative pictures or designs or information for ready reference.
Another single hand, paper sheet dispenser in the prior art allows for bi-directional operation and is adaptively mountable as is the present invention. The main difference between this prior art and the subject invention is in the construction and components comprising the dispensing bale. In the prior art, the dispensing bale was comprised of an inner brake bar and a outer tear bar such that a roll of paper sheets positioned on the core holder were generally trained in an under/over path for braking rotation of the roll during a one handed dispensing operation. The subject invention does not require the use of an inner brake bar and an outer tear bar for one handed dispensing operation. To facilitate one handed dispensing the subject invention requires only a frictional gripping member with at least one passive segment and at least one frictional segment. Additionally, the frictional gripping member utilizes frictional force between a frictional segment of the member and the interior of a free end of a roll of paper sheets to prevent further unreeling of the roll of paper sheets when conducting a one handed dispensing operation while the passive segment(s) of the member contact the exterior of the coiled roll permitting selective rotation to allow controlled single hand dispensing.
It would further be desirable, in at least one embodiment of the invention, to provide a means for dispensing segmented paper sheets, including paper towels, wherein the dispensing means is composed of metal components or other construction which provides not only strength to the structure but also a useful gravity component that assists in braking action during removal of a number of paper segments from a roll by a user using a single hand during a dispensing operation.
In view of the limitations of traditional paper sheet dispensers, it would be therefore be desirable to provide a means for dispensing segmented paper sheets that enables a user to dispense segmented paper sheets with a single hand in a reliable and convenient manner, and which incorporated novel, desirable elements referred to above.
The difficulties and limitations suggested in the preceding are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are among many which demonstrate that paper sheet dispensers appearing in the past will admit to worthwhile improvement.